(A) Dog license required. All dogs must be licensed each year, except as otherwise provided herein, to a person of the age of 18 or older. Any person owning, possessing or harboring any dog within the city shall obtain a license for such animal within 30 days after the dog reaches the age of four months, or within ten days of the acquisition of such dog or presence of such dog within the city. For a dog under the age of six months, the Department of Animal Control may accept certification from a licensed veterinarian that the owner has deposited funds for spaying or neutering, then the dog may be licensed at the reduced fee. Said initial license shall be effective for one year from the date of purchase and must be renewed annually thereafter. License renewal applications must be submitted annually to the Department of Animal Control, utilizing a standard form which requests name, address and telephone number of the applicant and the breed, sex, color and age of the animal; the form also asks for pertinent information regarding rabies vaccinations. The application shall be accompanied by the prescribed license fee and by a current rabies vaccination certificate. Rabies vaccinations and certificates therefor, must be obtained every two years, from either a licensed veterinarian or an authorized animal control officer.
(B) Fee schedule.
(1) Dog licenses will be issued in accordance with the fee schedule adopted by resolution of the City Council.
(2) No dog shall be licensed as spayed or neutered without satisfactory proof that such surgery was performed on said dog.
(C) Effective; term of license. The license shall be effective one year from the date of purchase. Licenses for the following year may be purchased within 30 days prior to the expiration date.
(D) Number of dogs permitted. No person or persons at any one residence within the jurisdiction shall at any one time own or license more than three dogs in any combination, except as otherwise provided herein.
(E) License tag.
(1) Upon payment of the license fee, the Department of Animal Control shall issue to the owner a certificate and tag for each dog licensed. The tag shall have stamped thereon the license number corresponding with the tag number on the certificate. The owner shall attach the tag to the collar or harness of the animal and see that the collar and the tag are constantly worn. Failure to attach the tag as provided shall be in violation of this section, except in that dogs which are kept for show purposes are exempt from wearing the collar and tag.
(2) Dog tags are not transferable from one dog to another. No refunds shall be made on any dog license fee for any reason whatsoever. Replacements for lost or destroyed tags shall be issued upon payment of the required fee to the Department of Animal Control.
(3) Any person removing or causing to be removed the collar, harness or tag from any licensed dog without the consent of the owner or keeper thereof, except a licensed veterinarian or animal control officer who removes such for medical and other reasons, shall be in violation of this section.
(F) Exemptions to licensing.
(1) The provisions of divisions (A) through (E) above shall not apply to:
(a) Licensed dogs whose owners are nonresidents temporarily (up to 30 days) within the jurisdiction; licensed dogs whose owners remain within the jurisdiction longer than 30 days may transfer to the local license upon payment of the required fee and proof of current rabies vaccination; and
(b) Individual dogs within a properly licensed dog kennel or other such establishment when such dogs are held for resale or agricultural use.
(2) The fee provisions of division (B) above shall not apply to:
(a) Seeing eye dogs properly trained to assist blind persons if such dogs are actually being used by blind persons to assist them in moving from place to place;
(b) Hearing dogs properly trained to assist deaf persons if such dogs are actually used by deaf persons to aid them in responding to sounds; and
(c) Dogs especially trained to assist officials of government agencies in the performance of their duties and which are owned by such agencies.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to exempt any dog from having a current rabies vaccination.
(Prior Code, § 5-1-3) Penalty, see § 93.99